In Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit one section that particularly stuck out to me was "The Land and the People are Inseparable". This section is about how, after moving to Tuscon from New Mexico, the narrator connects with the local tribe, the Yaqui, because everything about them makes the narrator feel at home.
The first thing that the narrator talks about are her surroundings. She talks about the rattlesnakes that seem friendly and hospitable, the rocks by her house that are comforting to her. She talks about all of these natural things that most of us may overlook if we're not looking for it--the little components that make home feel like home.
Next she talks about the feeling of home, how the community all being together really just hits hard for her. The image she uses is that everyone walked out of their houses at the same time while she was driving through Old Pasqua to support a recently deceased community member's family. They all walked towards the white hearse to show their support and to grieve together. It really is a beautiful image and really sums up what a "home" should be like and feel like.
All of this really hits home for me. I have never been uprooted like the Native Americans have been and are to this day, but I moved from New Orleans when I was 8 years old and still call it my "home". It is the place I feel most comfortable, the place I feel most proud of, the place where I literally love everything and everyone I meet--from my great aunt to the newest stranger. I take pride in that place. Whenever I visit, it is like I never left. The entire community remembers when I was born, what my mother wore for her 16th birthday, the first time my brother and I learned how to ride a bike. That is what "home" should feel like.
While I've been thinking about "home" I of course come back to the many ways that we've ripped this idea away from the American Indians. We have put them on reservations, have bought and sold and destroyed their ancestral lands. We have disrespected their way of life. It is amazing that they can still form a sense of community amongst themselves at this point. To me, their belief in themselves and their way of life is inspiring and admirable. In the face of losing what they were they have found a way to become something different and still very good.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Belo Monte
In our class we talk about the displacement and genocide of the American Indians in the U.S. I just found an article that confirms that mistreatment of the native people of the world is still occurring: link.
That link will take you to an article regarding the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant that the President of Brazil has just okayed which will displace thousands of the Kayapo Indian Tribe that lives on the Xingu river. Not only will the construction of this project uproot these people, but it will destroy 500 sq km of land due to flooding. With all of that aside, it will also affect the rainforest's ecosystem. Overall, probably the worst idea I've encountered today--and I had a dream that involved Ahi Tuna steaks with icing and blue sprinkles.
This coincides with the age old reason behind uprooting any civilization--lust. Lust for land, for more resources, for control. A need to wholly control an area and not caring one bit who it affects.
That link will take you to an article regarding the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant that the President of Brazil has just okayed which will displace thousands of the Kayapo Indian Tribe that lives on the Xingu river. Not only will the construction of this project uproot these people, but it will destroy 500 sq km of land due to flooding. With all of that aside, it will also affect the rainforest's ecosystem. Overall, probably the worst idea I've encountered today--and I had a dream that involved Ahi Tuna steaks with icing and blue sprinkles.
This coincides with the age old reason behind uprooting any civilization--lust. Lust for land, for more resources, for control. A need to wholly control an area and not caring one bit who it affects.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Indian Education
One of the most eye opening stories in Sherman Alexei's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is Indian Education, starting on page 171. One of the questions my group was asked to discuss was why Junior described the students on the Reservation the way he does, "...a few can't read, one or two are just given attendance diplomas, most look forward to the parties. The bright students are shaken, frightened, because they don't know what comes next."
Our group discussed a few points but primarily came back to the same thought that Reservations are inherently poor. Students on the Reservation do not have the same opportunities as those who go to school elsewhere. Their best shot is probably learning a trade and getting a job on the Res. themselves or getting a part time job at a store. The kids who are bright and are graduating from the Reservation are probably terrified because the outlook is grim at best.
I found an article about the Indian boarding schools funded by the government on NPR--how these places are salvation for students. Here's a link. The girl they interview says that she had to get out of her Apache Reservation because most people commit suicide or are alcoholics.
One thing Junior discusses in the Indian Education story is how he was outcasted by his peers because he went off the Res. to get an education. I think that while being ostracized is awful, it is better to have more of a chance at succeeding in your life instead of accepting a bleak fate.
Our group discussed a few points but primarily came back to the same thought that Reservations are inherently poor. Students on the Reservation do not have the same opportunities as those who go to school elsewhere. Their best shot is probably learning a trade and getting a job on the Res. themselves or getting a part time job at a store. The kids who are bright and are graduating from the Reservation are probably terrified because the outlook is grim at best.
I found an article about the Indian boarding schools funded by the government on NPR--how these places are salvation for students. Here's a link. The girl they interview says that she had to get out of her Apache Reservation because most people commit suicide or are alcoholics.
One thing Junior discusses in the Indian Education story is how he was outcasted by his peers because he went off the Res. to get an education. I think that while being ostracized is awful, it is better to have more of a chance at succeeding in your life instead of accepting a bleak fate.
Guilt
Today in class we talked about guilt.
We talked about how we should feel in the face of atrocity. We talked about how we should feel about the past and the present.
I'm not very good with expressing myself in a classroom discussion setting, but this is my view:
For the past, I can't take any responsibility. For things that happen that are completely outside of your control, I don't think I can take responsibility. But what I will take responsibility for is educating myself and educating others. I've blogged previously about the role of documentaries in my understanding of controversial topics, of historical topics, of everything. Whenever I watch something, or read something, or learn something new that moves me and makes me want to do something--I share it. I share it on Facebook, on Tumblr, on Reddit, on Twitter, on whatever I can. I share it by word of mouth. I share it in perhaps other discussions where it is relevant.
As a human being, I want to help others understand what has happened in our history. I want them to understand what happened in this country not just the the blacks or to the Japanese, but also to the American Indians, to the Irish, to the Italians. I want people to know that due to human expansion across the entire planet, there are species of animals that are being completely wiped out. That due to human greed, there are so many wrong things happening on this planet. And to share this information, I feel responsible.
I feel responsible because ignorance is plaguing humanity and allowing for bad decisions to be made, for detrimental things to happen to our environment, to our governments, to our people. This class just has furthered my frustration that I am so ignorant, that I didn't know what was going on with the indigenous people of this country. That the Reservations are some of the poorest communities in this country, that American Indians are not given the same opportunities as white people--all of it was at least semi-new information to me. And with every new discussion I seek out new information. Right now I have about five tabs on my browser open all about the history of American Indians. Right now, specifically, I'm reading about the American Indian Movement beginning in 1968. How in the 1960's John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson both made efforts to help the state of American Indian affairs. Johnson passed Executive Order 11399 which established the National Council on Indian Opportunity (NCIO) which attempted to focus on the plight of American Indians, trying to connect the issue with the trusts of the tribes and nations to civil rights as Johnson was unfamiliar with actual Indian issues. It initially began as a civil rights and antiwar movement taken directly to the American public by means of the press. They developed a 20 point list of their goals, twelve of which specified that treaty obligations were not being met by the American government. All of this can be found on the wikipedia article and others online link.
Here's a photo of the AIM flag
and here's a video of their anthem:
We talked about how we should feel in the face of atrocity. We talked about how we should feel about the past and the present.
I'm not very good with expressing myself in a classroom discussion setting, but this is my view:
For the past, I can't take any responsibility. For things that happen that are completely outside of your control, I don't think I can take responsibility. But what I will take responsibility for is educating myself and educating others. I've blogged previously about the role of documentaries in my understanding of controversial topics, of historical topics, of everything. Whenever I watch something, or read something, or learn something new that moves me and makes me want to do something--I share it. I share it on Facebook, on Tumblr, on Reddit, on Twitter, on whatever I can. I share it by word of mouth. I share it in perhaps other discussions where it is relevant.
As a human being, I want to help others understand what has happened in our history. I want them to understand what happened in this country not just the the blacks or to the Japanese, but also to the American Indians, to the Irish, to the Italians. I want people to know that due to human expansion across the entire planet, there are species of animals that are being completely wiped out. That due to human greed, there are so many wrong things happening on this planet. And to share this information, I feel responsible.
I feel responsible because ignorance is plaguing humanity and allowing for bad decisions to be made, for detrimental things to happen to our environment, to our governments, to our people. This class just has furthered my frustration that I am so ignorant, that I didn't know what was going on with the indigenous people of this country. That the Reservations are some of the poorest communities in this country, that American Indians are not given the same opportunities as white people--all of it was at least semi-new information to me. And with every new discussion I seek out new information. Right now I have about five tabs on my browser open all about the history of American Indians. Right now, specifically, I'm reading about the American Indian Movement beginning in 1968. How in the 1960's John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson both made efforts to help the state of American Indian affairs. Johnson passed Executive Order 11399 which established the National Council on Indian Opportunity (NCIO) which attempted to focus on the plight of American Indians, trying to connect the issue with the trusts of the tribes and nations to civil rights as Johnson was unfamiliar with actual Indian issues. It initially began as a civil rights and antiwar movement taken directly to the American public by means of the press. They developed a 20 point list of their goals, twelve of which specified that treaty obligations were not being met by the American government. All of this can be found on the wikipedia article and others online link.
and here's a video of their anthem:
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Hurricane
Lone Ranger and Tonto begins with Victor being woken up by a "hurricane".
The first couple of pages the only hurricane I see are the family dynamics. His uncles are having an incredibly loud fistfight outside. One of my favorite quotes from this section at the bottom of page 2 is "He could see his uncles slugging each other with such force that they had to be in love." This quote makes me think of how much abuse Victor's family has seen. Is it a common excuse when people get into a fight? They just fight because they love each other so much? Or is it that only people who love each other can fight like that? That they are so passionate about each other that they just unleash their emotions like a tropical storm? Just some thoughts while first starting the book.
While reading this book, I feel like this entire thing is a hurricane. Just a swirling storm of emotion and life and loss. I just go back to the movie "Smoke Signals" where there is just so much. So much of the past to come to terms with, so much of the future to look forward to.
The first couple of pages the only hurricane I see are the family dynamics. His uncles are having an incredibly loud fistfight outside. One of my favorite quotes from this section at the bottom of page 2 is "He could see his uncles slugging each other with such force that they had to be in love." This quote makes me think of how much abuse Victor's family has seen. Is it a common excuse when people get into a fight? They just fight because they love each other so much? Or is it that only people who love each other can fight like that? That they are so passionate about each other that they just unleash their emotions like a tropical storm? Just some thoughts while first starting the book.
While reading this book, I feel like this entire thing is a hurricane. Just a swirling storm of emotion and life and loss. I just go back to the movie "Smoke Signals" where there is just so much. So much of the past to come to terms with, so much of the future to look forward to.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
2 minutes of listening
Today in class we started off with a listening exercise with a partner (or two) and reported back. I talked with Alex Sierra and we ended up both having similar feelings--why were we not taught this in school? Why was this part of our history swept under the rug and not explained to us as youths? Why is the oppression of the American Indians continuing even until this day?
This class utilizes one of the few things that gets me angry and involved--documentaries. Documentaries move me more than any other display of new information or controversy or history. There is something so much more real about personal accounts/experiences than reading some facts in a book or some story that I have to analyze later. I learn more from these intimate encounters, watching someone's expressions while they tell their story. The most recent documentary we watched was this Link. This video talks about the Native American Holocaust, and it blew my mind. Learning about this sent my mind into a frenzy--why had I not heard of this before? Why did it seem as though Wounded Knee and the Trail of Tears were the only horrific things that happened to the Native Americans? I thought back to my World History textbook in 9th grade and grasped for a memory of any of this and only could recall a page and a half regarding Chief Crazy Horse and Wounded Knee. I still do not know much about the battle at Wounded Knee other than what I've seen in movies. The Trail of Tears? Described to me in school as just a big migration from ancestral lands to reservations. I can't remember if anyone ever taught me about the hardships American Indians experienced on this "migration".
When I was a child, there were a few books I had called "If You Lived With The Sioux" and "If You Lived With The Cherokee". The first was written by Ann Mcgovern and the second by Peter Roop. The books gave me a basic overview of how these specific Indian nations lived and operated. I've posted a picture of the front cover up above this section. Anyone can buy these Scholastic books on Amazon for $6.99. There is a three page Table of Contents section, telling the young reader that they are about to know about the Sioux's clothing, their lifestyle habits, their war habits, and finally what happened when "the white people came" and "a note from the author about the Sioux Indians today." I don't have these books anymore, but I wonder if the author was honest. I wonder if they are telling the truth in these books and not deceiving the youth of today and yesterday.
I found a blog on wordpress, here's a Link. The particular article was written in 2008 and asks the question of where the Lakota Sioux are today. The Sioux, as of 2008, are some of the poorest people in the United States, only 14% speak their original language, there is almost no work for adults, and the average Sioux man is twice as likely to end up in prison comparatively to a white man. I can't remember what Ann Mcgovern's educational book on the Sioux said when I was a child, but I'm sure it did not tell half the truth about the actual conditions this particular nation of American Indians has been forced to live in.
This class utilizes one of the few things that gets me angry and involved--documentaries. Documentaries move me more than any other display of new information or controversy or history. There is something so much more real about personal accounts/experiences than reading some facts in a book or some story that I have to analyze later. I learn more from these intimate encounters, watching someone's expressions while they tell their story. The most recent documentary we watched was this Link. This video talks about the Native American Holocaust, and it blew my mind. Learning about this sent my mind into a frenzy--why had I not heard of this before? Why did it seem as though Wounded Knee and the Trail of Tears were the only horrific things that happened to the Native Americans? I thought back to my World History textbook in 9th grade and grasped for a memory of any of this and only could recall a page and a half regarding Chief Crazy Horse and Wounded Knee. I still do not know much about the battle at Wounded Knee other than what I've seen in movies. The Trail of Tears? Described to me in school as just a big migration from ancestral lands to reservations. I can't remember if anyone ever taught me about the hardships American Indians experienced on this "migration".
I found a blog on wordpress, here's a Link. The particular article was written in 2008 and asks the question of where the Lakota Sioux are today. The Sioux, as of 2008, are some of the poorest people in the United States, only 14% speak their original language, there is almost no work for adults, and the average Sioux man is twice as likely to end up in prison comparatively to a white man. I can't remember what Ann Mcgovern's educational book on the Sioux said when I was a child, but I'm sure it did not tell half the truth about the actual conditions this particular nation of American Indians has been forced to live in.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Introducing Iktomi
I've only made it a few stories into the Iktomi section--the smart-ass spider man. I'm not really sure what to think of him. I feel like he solves a lot of his problems by killing dissenters, like Flint Boy and the Buffalo Chief whose wife he stole. I'm not sure I like his way of handling things better than Coyote's. Coyote didn't seem to be particularly violent--just tricky and deceiving. Iktomi seems to be deceiving and with no scruples when it comes to killing people. For instance, Flint Boy was a longtime friend of his, and he drowned him in the river.
Does anyone else feel a little weird about Iktomi?
Does anyone else feel a little weird about Iktomi?
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